Angry in the Great White North

It has been a wild couple of days, and the story certainly has not played itself out.  We might still have an election, but as things are right now, it looks like the Liberals will vote against the government while the NDP, and possibly the Bloc Quebecois, will support the government.

I don't spend a lot of time quoting other bloggers, but in this case, it is interesting to see the rationalization that is taking place.

The fact that Stephen Harper is likely to remain prime minister doesn't seem to concern Liberal watchers.  All they care about is how the Liberal Party is perceived.

And here's the kicker.  They don't expect that people will think better of the Liberals now that Michael Ignatieff has signalled that he will no longer vote confidence in the Harper government.  They are hoping people think as badly of the NDP as they do of the Liberals!

The Liberal Party got pounded in the media for a couple of years on their decision to abstain or only symbolically oppose the Conservatives on non-confidence motions, so we'll see how the NDP folks enjoy being portrayed in this manner.

I don't ever want to hear again how the NDP always votes on principle and never based on political considerations/strategy. If Robert Fife's report from last night is correct that they're not only going to support the Conservative Ways and Means motion, but also not vote with the Liberals non-confidence motion at the end of this month, they've proved they are just a typical Canadian political party - which there is nothing wrong with being, but again, it shows how hypocritical the NDP has been/will be if they continue to claim how "principled" they are as a party as compared to other political parties.

So let me get this straight.  The Liberals have turned the tables on...the NDP?  The NDP is hypocritical for claiming to be driven by principles?  The NDP is really a typical party, just as typical as the Liberals?  People should give the NDP no more credit that they give to the Liberals?

One more time.  The Liberals, under uber-intellectual Michael Ignatieff, is just a typical political party, with no claim to being more principled than any other political party?  The NDP is as bad as the Liberal Party.  The Liberals are no better than anyone else.  The Liberal Party is nothing special -- just a "typical" Canadian political party.

Scott, are you sure that's what you wanted to say?  I mean, you might be right (I think the Liberals are less principled, but that's just me), but I have to wonder, is this an improvement for the Liberals?  After Stephane Dion's disastrous run as leader, are all of you just waiting for the Liberals to claw themselves back to "typical"?  Is that what you all aspire to? 

Is this the big win?

We're typical!  The NDP is as unprincipled as us!  Thank you, Michael Ignatieff!

I can almost see the balloons dropping from the ceiling in celebration.